Long Beaded Earrings

I made these along with the last pair, and thought they needed something else, but wore them yesterday and decided to leave them just as they are. I used a length of chain that I already had, which I connected to earring wires. Then I put each bead on a pin, created a loop and attached each loop to a link in the chain. I had enough to do matching beads on every other chain link. They move around randomly, and don't look like a perfect "every-other" pattern, and I like it that way.

I had thought they might need another bead too, you know three's a charm, but don't want to add the weight or the bulk to them.

Long, Dangling Earrings

I worked on a couple pair of earrings today. This was the first pair:

I only had to make one buy for these, and that was the actual earring hooks. The chain is from a necklace that was very small and has been sitting around for ages. The two colorful beads, which made me start on these earrings in the first place, I think were from back in my high school days, and the other findings were hanging around the craft closet! It was pretty simple. I put a small pink seed bead, and the silver beads around the big colorful ones on a pin, created a loop at the top and put them all together. The hardest part was getting that tiny little chain to go onto the hooks at all! I think I will really enjoy this pair!

I think the second pair might still need some work....so I'll show you another day!

Quilled Peacock - Improved

Thank you for the constructive criticism on my last post about this peacock! I do actually care about your opinions and know well that when I create something myself, I am not always the best one to critique it! :)

I thought about what to add on the bottom of the peacock and went back and forth about it a while, but this morning I decided to try this option: legs.

I think it adds just the right amount of depth under the peacock, without making it too busy. I opted not to add a mat, because I felt he might be a little cramped if I do that. What do you think now?

Crepe Paper Flowers - Improved!

In my last post, I showed you my first two crepe paper flowers. I decided to work on the rose a little, so that I would at least like it! I pulled in the petals tighter at the bottom and added another layer of floral tape to keep them tight. Then I saw in my Martha Stewart Crafts book (a gift from my M-i-L) that you should stretch the crepe paper to make the petals a little more shapely. You are supposed to do this before taping them to the wire, but I thought I would try anyway. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I think it is much better. Less floppy, and more rose-like!

I also decided to make a couple more of the little orange flowers. I put them in this small vase and set them on a dark corner shelf. They are very bright in that corner and add a burst of fall color to the living room. Just what I was looking for!

As you can see, I'm enjoying trying out this new craft!

Crepe Paper Flowers

My husband, who knows I love all things crafty, gave me a paper flower making kit for a gift this past year, but I didn't take the time to work on it until he was in Paris this past month with work! This kit included paper, wire, floral tape, stamens, and a book with instructions and patterns to make the flowers. I followed the instructions in the book to make a rose, and this was it. The paper is thick, who sided and makes a very sturdy flower. I think I would like it a lot more if it wasn't so BIG. But it is pink, and it looks like a rose to me, so for a first attempt I was pretty pleased.

I decided for my next flower to make some orange ones to display in the fall this year as a seasonal pop of color. I had a roll of cheap streamer paper and thought it might work. I used a white stamen from the kit and rolled around that a cut of 1/2 ish by 4 inch piece of streamer that I  frayed with scissors. Then cut circles out that were the size of the paper, crimped them together on the bottom, and put them on one by one. This flower is much more fragile, but I love the look of it, felt the thinner paper was easier to work with and think it looks better in the end.

I posted again on these same flowers here.

Quilled Peacock

A while ago, I refinished this frame that was old-school gold, by painting it dark blue, then white, and putting some blue paint on to fill the creases and the rubbing it to let the white and gold show through. I love the frame, and was looking for a quilling project to make to fill it. I decided to do it this week and wanted to try a peacock, to get a big punch of color and extravagance. Here he is:

I looked online, but couldn't find any to copy that were head on peacocks this style, so I was on my own to make it up. I started by making a pile of papers in the colors I thought I'd like to include. A little yellow and green, but mostly dark blue, because I have so much of that color in my living area. I went round-by-round, adding different designs and colors. He started out like this, and honestly, I thought I was finished after the 5 hours work I put into it. But as soon as I put his body on top of his tail, I knew I needed to change something....

So I found a piece of paper the same color as the quilling paper I used for his body, glued his body to the front of it, and cut it to size. It was just what his body needed to pop in front of his tail. 

Then, I realized it wasn't done enough for me, so I worked on it another night and added a few more rounds of quilling and color! I ended up with the peacock you saw above. Now that he's finished though, I wonder if the frame is not right for him....

Puzzle Shelf

My Dad was a genius about how things worked and he made over a hundred wooden puzzles. Some were only two pieces, and some would be impossible to figure out, even if you worked for days, without directions. He made us some in past years, and we have had them sitting on the edge of our shuffleboard table, where little hands mess with them regularly, and they would get knocked over by the curtains when we opened/shut them. So we've been talking about a shelf for them for a while. We finally got the shelf made & put up this week and put the puzzles on it. I am so glad to have a place for these puzzles, which are sort of a legacy for my dad.

I miss him.

Wall-Hanging Paper Bursts

I saw an idea from a Better Homes and Garden article called Room in Bloom. I used their idea to create something for the bottom of my screen door wall hanging. I had made a small flower like this before, but never one of this size, and the idea of putting together to create a colorful wall hanging was wonderful!

Yellow Dress

I bought this dress because it was on sale, has a great "feel", and it is my favorite color!

 I got it out to wear it last month, and realized it has this hip-area problem. I can't imagine that any one would have enough hip to fill this out, and it seems like it is in a weird spot! I decided to sew it down before wearing it and this is what I got:

All I did was sew a straight line down each side. Amazingly enough, at the widest point it was only an inch from the original side seam. What a big difference a few inches can make! I think it was quite an improvement, and am glad I can sew a straight line, because that is all it took!

Fabric Toy Basket

My husband and I went round-and-round on what to do with the toys that our toddler strings all through our house all day long. We needed a place that she could clean them up herself by just piling them in, but it needed to be in this room that we use with guests often, so it needed to look nice too. This was my solution:

I have been working on this crocheted basket made of strips of old sheets and hand-me-down fabrics. My kids have helped me tear them into 1 inch strips, which they actually thought was fun, most of the time. :) I am planning to add a few more rows, but it will sit for now like this, because quite honestly, I am tired of working on it and want to do something else!!!!

Paper Shamrock Wall-Hanging

I made a HUGE paper shamrock to hang on my wall, just like I'd have made one with quilling paper strips. It is made with about 1 1/4 inch strips that were about 20-26 inches long. I stapled it all together, as I didn't think glue would hold it. I wanted you to see how big it was, so I wanted this photo with the yardstick included:

I hung it in the top rectangle of my screen door wallhanging, but think it needs something else. I tried gluing a banner to the front that said "Happy St. Patrick's Day," but it didn't look good. Any suggestions on embellishing it?

Milk Jug Snowflakes

The kids and I made these recycled milk jug snowflakes, way before Christmas, to hang in the yard. I love them because I know they will NEVER disintegrate since they are made from a milk jug, and they were a fun way to decorate the yard without lights. We just cut a jug or two apart and used the flat sections to cut these shapes. My kids are young, and could only cut a simple star shape out.

I tried to use my die cutter to do one of these, but it was not strong enough to go through the plastic. It did make an impression on it that I was easily able to easily follow and cut with my scissors this shape. I also made a free handed one, and took close-up photos of both, but am having problems with Blogger photo uploads and will not be posting the close up photos of those. I love how well they showed up.

Repurposed Scarves From An Old Sweater

Anyway, I took this old school sweater that I loved the feel of (but not the style of) and unraveled the whole thing and put the yarn into balls and crocheted a few scarves. So me and my two best college friends have coordinating scarves....because two of the scarves are for their Christmas.

I know I took a picture of the sweater before, but can't find it in the computer. We've had a lot going on at our house, so I'm not surprised I can't find it!! If I find the picture somewhere, I'll post it later.



Since it is weeks after Christmas, I only have two of them at my house....I actually finished one before Christmas and mailed it to one of my friends. The other I just finished and will be mailing tomorrow, if at all possible.

Tee Necklaces

My mom recently sent me a site with these recycled tee shirt necklaces and I wanted to try them. So I pulled out hand-me-downs from my sister's kids and cut the tee into 3/4 inch loops.

This green one is my first attempt. I put it on and thought, "No way am I wearing that." But decided I'd wear it to the mall today, not planning to see anyone I knew and see what I thought about it after seeing it all day. I did like it better by the end of the day, but am still not sure about it. So I decided to make a few more and see if maybe it was the color/thickness that was not right.....but since I didn't 'feel it' for these either, I decided to post them here to get feedback. I am hoping someone will look at them and tell me if they're tacky, or trendy.

What do you think?

Dress Redo

I took this dress that looks like it has been around for 10-15 years, and knew it had potential. I hung it in my closet for a year....until I had inspiration today to make it into something much more fun! First up was taking out the seams on the slits in the bottom and sewing it back together, no more slits. Then I cut the embroidery/lace bottom off and put a hem at knee level. I knew even though that lace looked terrible along the bottom, it had potential, so I pinned it across the chest of the dress until I liked the arrangement and sewed along the top of the lace. I think it is quite an improvement.

Here is it on: